Sunday, July 27, 2008

"Post No. 526"

REVIEWING: "The Incredible Hulk" 2008 Movie, (and other things.

After the 2003 Hulk flick I knew anything that was made after that HAD to be better. And, I wasn't disapointed. I really enjoyed this new one. The special effects were better, the design of The Hulk himself was MUCH better. The actor & actress choices were better. There's not a whole lot I could say that I didn't like about the film.

Oh, okay. I have to admit that I just half-heartedly watched it. I didn't even see the proverbial Stan Lee cameo (which I'm sure it has), but when this new Hulk got angry, he really got mad! His facial expressions were terrific! His transformation scenes were much better. And even though I didn't care a whole lot about the way "The Abomination" looked compared to his comic book counterpart, he still looked pretty decent.

The Hulk used classic moves from the comics, in particular, the clapping of his hands together to create a sonic wave. They got his "leaps" much better as well. And there were some cute touches here and there when they showed a little scene of Bill Bixby on the t.v. set, and played the closing theme music to that old 70's version when Banner was on the road.

It was really good to hear a tie-in to "S.H.I.E.L.D.", and the "Tony Stark" (aka, Iron Man) scene at the end of this movie was a good touch, especially the closing words that character used (which, if you've never seen this flick, I won't disclose as a spoiler 'cause it's pretty darn neat!), and the whole movie seemed to flow pretty well save for the first 10-15 minutes which were a little confusing since it was a tie-in from the previous Hulk attempt on the "big screen".

And one of the best parts? When the Green Goliath screamd out, "HULK SMASH!!!" (just like in the comics!)

This movie is at least as good as the first Fantastic Four flick, better than Daredevil or The Punisher, beats the hell out of Electra and Ghost Rider, although perhaps not on the par of the first Spider-man or the first two X-men's. Still it was A-Okay with me! Out of a ten point rating, I'd give it an 8.5, and hope that the next one will be a ten. And if it takes another 5 years to get that sort of rating from me, then "so be it".

A super-hero flick I don't think I want to see? "Superman/Batman". There's been plans on making such a flick off and on for some time now, but I just don't know if I could personally enjoy that teamup. It's not like it was 40 years ago when these characters had that special reparte' in DC comics. Back in the 1960's (and before) when Supes and Bats appeared together as a team (along with "Robin") in World's Finest Comics, they were the best of friends. Even when they joined with other heroes in the pages of JLA, they always worked well together as a team. But...things change. Comics change. Stories change. Everyone "grows up". Batman has continuously gotten to be a darker character since the beginning of the 1970's, and even Superman has changed away from his Boy Scout image in the Post-Crisis era of comic writing. Long gone and mostly forgotten are the days of comic book covers on which these characters appeared together with big smiles and a cheerful wave. Now the Dark Knight has beated Supes to a pulp in the pages of stories written by Frank Miller and purposely exposed him to the killing radiation of kryptonite a few times as a precausionary measure to keep the man of steel "in line". The Robin we had in the 1960's and before is now "Nightwing" and out of the picture, and he's yet to even be introduced (and may never be) in the latest run of Batman flicks. DC movie adaptations these days may be "fun" flicks to watch, but they're certainly not "funny"!

The comic book stories of 40+ years ago reflect a whole different time in this country. We may have been going through some sort of cultural revolution, but still we maintained a little bit of innocence; long gone in the modern culture. And I can just see such a flick/teamup of these two hero/anti-hero types these days following closely to a Miller sort of concept with The Batman always keeping a chunk of meteorite tucked safely in a lead compartment somewhere in the utility belt that'd be removed and used somewhere along such a film's storyline. It's safe to say, an inevitability.